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Tuesday, October 26

From NPR - Britain’s Cuts: Daring or Daft? Britain announced an austerity package that has stunned even the most hard-nosed American deficit hawks.

NPR's On Point did a fantastic job covering Britain's MASSIVE 20% CUT ACROSS THE BOARD.

Austerity or Bust! I give them a high five for giving it a try.

I can't even begin to understand the world of economics. I try by reading as many articles that my frozen shoulder will let me mouse around for. All I ever really needed to know about economics, I learned from The Dark Wraith. I'm sure many of you have seen his classroom video lectures. I've also hung at Mises, The Daily Reckoning, and currently, Barry Ritholtz's The Big Picture.

Austrian, Keynesian, Chicago, whatever. I'm sure these SOUND economic theories have a lot of merit amongst the more educated but I only know simple math. As a realtor, my calculations only involve P & I. So my opinion here is not based on "knowledge", like Mr. Krugman's, just feeeelings.

I've got to side with the austerity package here folks. I think we've come to a point in our economic history were models don't work anymore. How can they when the ones running the show are not playing by the rules?

If you have time, take a listen to George Osborne, Britain's Finance Minister (that's all I know about him), speaking to Parliament last week. I like what I hear:

..."It is a hard road but it leads to a better future - (groan groan). We are going to bring the years of ever rising borrowing to an end. We are going to insure, like every solvent household in the country, that what we buy we can afford... (Orgasmic Groans!) and that the bills we incur we have the income to meet. And that we do not saddle our children with the interest on the interest on the interest of the debts that we were not prepared ourselves to pay. "

The whole segment is really a great listen. This one-armed blogger was grateful to put the mouse down for a while.

Here's the rest of the line up:

Alex Barker, economics correspondent for the Financial Times.

Lord Robert Skidelsky, emeritus professor of political economy at the University of Warwick, director of the Moscow School of Political Studies, and a trustee of the Manhattan Institute. He is active in the British House of Lords. He is the preeminent biographer of John Maynard Keynes, having published a three-volume work, now condensed into a single volume: “John Maynard Keynes, 1883 to 1946: Economist, Philosopher, Statesman.” His latest book is “Keynes: The Return of the Master.”

Tim Besley, professor of economics and political science at the London School of Economics. From September 2006 to August 2009, he served as an external member of the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee.

Peter Beinart, senior political writer for The Daily Beast and associate professor of journalism and political science at City University of New York. He’s also a senior fellow at the New America Foundation. His new book is “The Icarus Syndrome: A History of American Hubris.”

Robert Bixby, executive director of The Concord Coalition, a nonpartisan organization focused on fiscal responsibility.

I sure hope the Dark Wraith stops by to spread some of his merrymaking